DistantNews
Support us
🇵🇦 Panama /Culture & Society

UNESCO calls Leo XIV’s visit a ‘strong message’ for multilateralism

From TVN Panamá · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Pope Leo XIV will visit UNESCO headquarters in Paris on Sept. 25 during a trip to France and meet Director-General Khaled El-Enany.
  • A UNESCO spokesman called the visit a strong political message supporting multilateralism, the United Nations and UNESCO.
  • The pope is expected to address member states on new technologies and artificial intelligence, amid planned U.S. and Nicaraguan withdrawals from UNESCO.

Pope Leo XIV’s planned visit to UNESCO in Paris is being presented by the organization as a forceful political signal in defense of multilateralism. The U.S.- and Peruvian-born pontiff will visit the agency’s headquarters on Sept. 25 during his trip to France and meet UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany.

The pope will also address UNESCO’s member states. His speech will focus, among other issues, on new technologies and artificial intelligence. UNESCO communications director Mathieu Guével said the visit would support multilateral cooperation, the United Nations generally and UNESCO in particular.

It is a strong message, a political message of support for multilateralism, for the UN in general and for UNESCO in particular.

· Mathieu GuévelUNESCO’s communications director described the political significance of Leo XIV’s planned visit.

“It is an important reminder (...) that today’s challenges must be faced together by all countries and that no country, however powerful, can face them alone,” Guével said. The organization adopted a pioneering text on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in 2021.

It is an important reminder (...) that today’s challenges must be faced together by all countries and that no country, however powerful, can face them alone.

· Mathieu GuévelGuével said the visit would underscore the need for countries to cooperate.

Guével also linked the visit to the pope’s position on artificial intelligence, expressed in his May encyclical, “Magnifica humanitas.” The document calls for greater cooperation, knowledge-sharing and work among nations. In it, Leo XIV urged people to “disarm” artificial intelligence to prevent it from dominating human beings.

The visit comes as the United States, under President Donald Trump, has announced plans to leave UNESCO, accusing it of anti-Israel bias and promoting divisive social and cultural causes. Nicaragua also announced its withdrawal, citing UNESCO’s award of a press-freedom prize to an opposition newspaper. Both departures are scheduled to take effect at the end of the year. Leo XIV will spend Sept. 25 and 26 in Paris, then travel to Lourdes on Sept. 27 and Metz the following day.

Disarm

· Pope Leo XIVThe pope used the phrase in his encyclical when calling for safeguards to prevent artificial intelligence from dominating human beings.
About this summary

Originally published by TVN Panamá in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog